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#Rowing - Rowing Ireland have a vacancy for the position of Leinster Women’s Development Officer to be based in Dublin.

The Leinster Women’s Development Officer will be tasked with introducing women to the sport of rowing and to general fitness through the facilitation of a schools indoor rowing programme. The funding for this position is supported by the Irish Sports Council's Women in Sport Initiative.

The programme will encompass the development, co-ordination and delivery of indoor rowing in schools and eventual linkage to local rowing clubs. The appointed individual will have lead responsibility for all matters pertaining to the successful delivery of the programme, which will necessitate development of effective partnerships working with clubs, schools, athletes, coaches, teachers, parents and/or guardians.

The successful candidate will positively promote Rowing Ireland and raise the profile of the sport of rowing.

The main areas of responsibly for this position are:

  • To develop and co-ordinate the delivery of a schools indoor rowing programme for Rowing Ireland as detailed in the Women in Sport proposal;
  • To mobilise, educate and manage volunteers involved in the programme;
  • To provide a lead role in managing and disseminating information to all key partners;
  • To maximise and manage all media opportunities to ensure the positive profile of rowing is promoted at all times;
  • To ensure there is linkage from the indoor school programme to local rowing clubs;
  • To attend training courses, training camps, competitions and other events (in an official capacity) as agreed with the Rowing Ireland CEO in advance;
  • To review and develop new events that will attract female participation;
  • To work in partnership with Rowing Ireland clubs to ensure appropriate on-water activities are available during holiday periods;
  • To monitor and evaluate the impact of interventions and prepare written and oral reports as necessary relating to the post; and
  • To work closely with the Rowing Ireland CEO.

This job description is not to be regarded as exclusive or exhaustive. It is intended as an outline indication of the areas of activity and will be amended in the light of the changing needs of the organisation.

The successful applicant will be self-motivated, personable and highly organised. The candidate should ideally have an interest in rowing and excellent interpersonal abilities. Strong communication skills and proficiency with Microsoft Office are essential.

Please send all applications to Hamish Adams, CEO, including your CV and cover letter (as one document) via the 'Apply Now' link on this page by 5pm on Friday 7 February 2014.

Interviews for selected applicants are scheduled to take place in Dublin on Thursday 13 February 2014.

Published in Rowing
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#Coastguard - Last Friday 9 August, the Shannon-based search and rescue helicopter Rescue 115 flew its first missions with an all-female flight crew in pilot Captain Dara Fitzpatrick and co-pilot Captain Carmel Kirby.  

Capt Fitzpatrick is the chief pilot for Rescue 117 at the Waterford base and was on transfer to Shannon to build up flying hours on the new helicopter type, the Sikorsky S92, which is due to replace the S61 in Waterford in mid-September.

Capt Kirby, meanwhile, is scheduled to become the manager of flight operations for all the helicopter SAR bases later this year.

This was a historic occasion for the Irish Coast Guard as this was the first all-female SAR chopper crew, and they carried out two missions on their shift – one a cardiac case from West Cork who is recovering well at Cork University Hospital, the other a aero-medical transfer from Cork University Hospital to Temple Street of a critically ill five-year-old child.

Coastguard statistics show a 45% rise in the number of incidents to 1,572 missions by the end of July this year, and the total is expected to break 2,000 as early as October - more than any individual year since records began.

Aside from the good weather that's brought so many more people out on the water than usual, another factor in this increase is the trial aeromedical service for the HSE - with air ambulance missions up a whopping 925% this year.

The Shannon rescue helicopter has so far flown an incredible 187 missions, more than double the number it had flown in the first eight months of 2012.

Published in Coastguard
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#VOLVO OCEAN RACE - The next edition of the Volvo Ocean Race will feature an all-woman crew for the first time since 2002, the Galway Advertiser reports.

The first team to declare for the race - which kicks off in Alicante two years from now - is backed by the Sweden-based global paper products company SCA, and will take delivery of the first new one-design boat for the race in 2013.

As previously reported on Afloat.ie, the new design VOR 65 - priced at €4.5 million, about 20% less expensive than the 70-footer that ended its run in Galway this summer - was developed with the idea of reducing the costs of competing in the gruelling round-the-world yacht race.

Another benefit of the new shorter, lighter design is that it puts less of an emphasis on physical strength, meaning that woman can once again be competitive in the race.

All-female crews in the next edition of the race will be allowed two extra crewmembers under VOR race rules.

"I'm very pleased to see a women's team back in the race," said Volvo Ocean Race CEO Knut Frostad. "The lack of women in the last few editions of the race has meant we haven't been representing half the population of the human race."

According to France24, four all-women teams have taken part in the race since 1973, when it was known as the Whitbread Round the World Race, but the physically demanding VOR 70 introduced in 2005 effectively pushed women out of the contest.

The SCA team is expected to be one of at least eight taking part in the next edition of the race, although it is unlikely that Galway will see its return in the near future.

The Galway Advertiser has more on the story HERE.

Published in Ocean Race

Ireland’s two women’s boats, the lightweight double scull and the single scull, will both compete in the semi-finals at the World Under-23 Rowing Championships in Amsterdam after good results in repechages today.

Claire Lambe and Sarah Dolan passed three boats to win an exciting repechage of the lightweight double scull. Ireland were in fourth place, outside a qualification spot for the semi-finals, coming up to half way, but they made a powerful move around 1250 metres, and they swept past Italy and the Czech Republic over the next few hundred metres. In the closing stages they then passed Romania to win.

Lisa Dileen finished second in the repechage of the single scull. She was in a comfortable second place at 1500 metres, but actually passed Nicole Beukers of the Netherlands to lead in the closing stages, before the home favourite battled back to win by .35 of a second.

World Under-23 Rowing Championships, Day Three (Irish interest)

Men

Lightweight Single Scull – Quarter Final Four: 1 United States (A Campbell Jr) 7:11.51, 2 Greece (P Magdanis) 7:14.64, 3 Peru (R Leon Garcia) 7:20.45; 4 Ireland (J Mitchell) 7:33.62, 5 Iraq 7:40.79, 6 Armenia 8:00.14.

Women

Lightweight Double Scull – Repechage (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals): 1 Ireland (S Dolan, C Lambe) 7:24.04, 2 Romania 7:24.63, 3 Italy 7:26.92; 4 Czech Republic 7:35.46, 5 Tunisia 8:00.09.

Single Scull – Repechage (First Three to A/B Semi-Finals): 1 The Netherlands (N Beukers) 7:45.46, 2 Ireland (L Dilleen) 7:45.81, 3 Greece (A Nikolaidou) 7:52.71; 4 Latvia 8:06.32, 5 USA 8:11.64.

 

Published in Rowing

Irish Olympic Sailing Team

Ireland has a proud representation in sailing at the Olympics dating back to 1948. Today there is a modern governing structure surrounding the selection of sailors the Olympic Regatta

Irish Olympic Sailing FAQs

Ireland’s representation in sailing at the Olympics dates back to 1948, when a team consisting of Jimmy Mooney (Firefly), Alf Delany and Hugh Allen (Swallow) competed in that year’s Summer Games in London (sailing off Torquay). Except for the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, Ireland has sent at least one sailor to every Summer Games since then.

  • 1948 – London (Torquay) — Firefly: Jimmy Mooney; Swallow: Alf Delany, Hugh Allen
  • 1952 – Helsinki — Finn: Alf Delany * 1956 – Melbourne — Finn: J Somers Payne
  • 1960 – Rome — Flying Dutchman: Johnny Hooper, Peter Gray; Dragon: Jimmy Mooney, David Ryder, Robin Benson; Finn: J Somers Payne
  • 1964 – Tokyo — Dragon: Eddie Kelliher, Harry Maguire, Rob Dalton; Finn: Johnny Hooper 
  • 1972 – Munich (Kiel) — Tempest: David Wilkins, Sean Whitaker; Dragon: Robin Hennessy, Harry Byrne, Owen Delany; Finn: Kevin McLaverty; Flying Dutchman: Harold Cudmore, Richard O’Shea
  • 1976 – Montreal (Kingston) — 470: Robert Dix, Peter Dix; Flying Dutchman: Barry O’Neill, Jamie Wilkinson; Tempest: David Wilkins, Derek Jago
  • 1980 – Moscow (Tallinn) — Flying Dutchman: David Wilkins, Jamie Wilkinson (Silver medalists) * 1984 – Los Angeles — Finn: Bill O’Hara
  • 1988 – Seoul (Pusan) — Finn: Bill O’Hara; Flying Dutchman: David Wilkins, Peter Kennedy; 470 (Women): Cathy MacAleavy, Aisling Byrne
  • 1992 – Barcelona — Europe: Denise Lyttle; Flying Dutchman: David Wilkins, Peter Kennedy; Star: Mark Mansfield, Tom McWilliam
  • 1996 – Atlanta (Savannah) — Laser: Mark Lyttle; Europe: Aisling Bowman (Byrne); Finn: John Driscoll; Star: Mark Mansfield, David Burrows; 470 (Women): Denise Lyttle, Louise Cole; Soling: Marshall King, Dan O’Grady, Garrett Connolly
  • 2000 – Sydney — Europe: Maria Coleman; Finn: David Burrows; Star: Mark Mansfield, David O'Brien
  • 2004 – Athens — Europe: Maria Coleman; Finn: David Burrows; Star: Mark Mansfield, Killian Collins; 49er: Tom Fitzpatrick, Fraser Brown; 470: Gerald Owens, Ross Killian; Laser: Rory Fitzpatrick
  • 2008 – Beijing (Qingdao) — Star: Peter O’Leary, Stephen Milne; Finn: Tim Goodbody; Laser Radial: Ciara Peelo; 470: Gerald Owens, Phil Lawton
  • 2012 – London (Weymouth) — Star: Peter O’Leary, David Burrows; 49er: Ryan Seaton, Matt McGovern; Laser Radial: Annalise Murphy; Laser: James Espey; 470: Gerald Owens, Scott Flanigan
  • 2016 – Rio — Laser Radial (Women): Annalise Murphy (Silver medalist); 49er: Ryan Seaton, Matt McGovern; 49erFX: Andrea Brewster, Saskia Tidey; Laser: Finn Lynch; Paralympic Sonar: John Twomey, Ian Costello & Austin O’Carroll

Ireland has won two Olympics medals in sailing events, both silver: David Wilkins, Jamie Wilkinson in the Flying Dutchman at Moscow 1980, and Annalise Murphy in the Laser Radial at Rio 2016.

The current team, as of December 2020, consists of Laser sailors Finn Lynch, Liam Glynn and Ewan McMahon, 49er pairs Ryan Seaton and Seafra Guilfoyle, and Sean Waddilove and Robert Dickson, as well as Laser Radial sailors Annalise Murphy and Aoife Hopkins.

Irish Sailing is the National Governing Body for sailing in Ireland.

Irish Sailing’s Performance division is responsible for selecting and nurturing Olympic contenders as part of its Performance Pathway.

The Performance Pathway is Irish Sailing’s Olympic talent pipeline. The Performance Pathway counts over 70 sailors from 11 years up in its programme.The Performance Pathway is made up of Junior, Youth, Academy, Development and Olympic squads. It provides young, talented and ambitious Irish sailors with opportunities to move up through the ranks from an early age. With up to 100 young athletes training with the Irish Sailing Performance Pathway, every aspect of their performance is planned and closely monitored while strong relationships are simultaneously built with the sailors and their families

Rory Fitzpatrick is the head coach of Irish Sailing Performance. He is a graduate of University College Dublin and was an Athens 2004 Olympian in the Laser class.

The Performance Director of Irish Sailing is James O’Callaghan. Since 2006 James has been responsible for the development and delivery of athlete-focused, coach-led, performance-measured programmes across the Irish Sailing Performance Pathway. A Business & Economics graduate of Trinity College Dublin, he is a Level 3 Qualified Coach and Level 2 Coach Tutor. He has coached at five Olympic Games and numerous European and World Championship events across multiple Olympic classes. He is also a member of the Irish Sailing Foundation board.

Annalise Murphy is by far and away the biggest Irish sailing star. Her fourth in London 2012 when she came so agonisingly close to a bronze medal followed by her superb silver medal performance four years later at Rio won the hearts of Ireland. Murphy is aiming to go one better in Tokyo 2021. 

Under head coach Rory Fitzpatrick, the coaching staff consists of Laser Radial Academy coach Sean Evans, Olympic Laser coach Vasilij Zbogar and 49er team coach Matt McGovern.

The Irish Government provides funding to Irish Sailing. These funds are exclusively for the benefit of the Performance Pathway. However, this falls short of the amount required to fund the Performance Pathway in order to allow Ireland compete at the highest level. As a result the Performance Pathway programme currently receives around €850,000 per annum from Sport Ireland and €150,000 from sponsorship. A further €2 million per annum is needed to have a major impact at the highest level. The Irish Sailing Foundation was established to bridge the financial gap through securing philanthropic donations, corporate giving and sponsorship.

The vision of the Irish Sailing Foundation is to generate the required financial resources for Ireland to scale-up and execute its world-class sailing programme. Irish Sailing works tirelessly to promote sailing in Ireland and abroad and has been successful in securing funding of 1 million euro from Sport Ireland. However, to compete on a par with other nations, a further €2 million is required annually to realise the ambitions of our talented sailors. For this reason, the Irish Sailing Foundation was formed to seek philanthropic donations. Led by a Board of Directors and Head of Development Kathryn Grace, the foundation lads a campaign to bridge the financial gap to provide the Performance Pathway with the funds necessary to increase coaching hours, upgrade equipment and provide world class sport science support to a greater number of high-potential Irish sailors.

The Senior and Academy teams of the Performance Pathway are supported with the provision of a coach, vehicle, coach boat and boats. Even with this level of subsidy there is still a large financial burden on individual families due to travel costs, entry fees and accommodation. There are often compromises made on the amount of days a coach can be hired for and on many occasions it is necessary to opt out of major competitions outside Europe due to cost. Money raised by the Irish Sailing Foundation will go towards increased quality coaching time, world-class equipment, and subsiding entry fees and travel-related costs. It also goes towards broadening the base of talented sailors that can consider campaigning by removing financial hurdles, and the Performance HQ in Dublin to increase efficiency and reduce logistical issues.

The ethos of the Performance Pathway is progression. At each stage international performance benchmarks are utilised to ensure the sailors are meeting expectations set. The size of a sailor will generally dictate which boat they sail. The classes selected on the pathway have been identified as the best feeder classes for progression. Currently the Irish Sailing Performance Pathway consists of the following groups: * Pathway (U15) Optimist and Topper * Youth Academy (U19) Laser 4.7, Laser Radial and 420 * Development Academy (U23) Laser, Laser Radial, 49er, 49erFX * Team IRL (direct-funded athletes) Laser, Laser Radial, 49er, 49erFX

The Irish Sailing performance director produces a detailed annual budget for the programme which is presented to Sport Ireland, Irish Sailing and the Foundation for detailed discussion and analysis of the programme, where each item of expenditure is reviewed and approved. Each year, the performance director drafts a Performance Plan and Budget designed to meet the objectives of Irish Performance Sailing based on an annual review of the Pathway Programmes from Junior to Olympic level. The plan is then presented to the Olympic Steering Group (OSG) where it is independently assessed and the budget is agreed. The OSG closely monitors the delivery of the plan ensuring it meets the agreed strategy, is within budget and in line with operational plans. The performance director communicates on an ongoing basis with the OSG throughout the year, reporting formally on a quarterly basis.

Due to the specialised nature of Performance Sport, Irish Sailing established an expert sub-committee which is referred to as the Olympic Steering Group (OSG). The OSG is chaired by Patrick Coveney and its objective is centred around winning Olympic medals so it oversees the delivery of the Irish Sailing’s Performance plan.

At Junior level (U15) sailors learn not only to be a sailor but also an athlete. They develop the discipline required to keep a training log while undertaking fitness programmes, attending coaching sessions and travelling to competitions. During the winter Regional Squads take place and then in spring the National Squads are selected for Summer Competitions. As sailors move into Youth level (U19) there is an exhaustive selection matrix used when considering a sailor for entry into the Performance Academy. Completion of club training programmes, attendance at the performance seminars, physical suitability and also progress at Junior and Youth competitions are assessed and reviewed. Once invited in to the Performance Academy, sailors are given a six-month trial before a final decision is made on their selection. Sailors in the Academy are very closely monitored and engage in a very well planned out sailing, training and competition programme. There are also defined international benchmarks which these sailors are required to meet by a certain age. Biannual reviews are conducted transparently with the sailors so they know exactly where they are performing well and they are made aware of where they may need to improve before the next review.

©Afloat 2020